Pricey music

New Delhi, Jan. 21 (PTI): People may be going crazy over iPods, but this might not be music to your ears. Indians need to work more than five months — the highest in the world — to be able to afford this gadget.

A comparison of per capita income and the price of iPods across 26 countries where Apple sells this product shows that Indians need to work the most — 112.67 days — to earn an amount equivalent to the price of the new iPod Nano 2GB model.

The least work is required in Switzerland — just 1.17 days or nearly 28 hours, while it is 38 hours in the US. People in countries like the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Canada also need to work less than two days to earn enough to buy this gizmo.

In terms of the amount of work required to buy this product, after India the iPod is the most expensive in China and Brazil — the other two fast emerging markets.

However, both China and Brazil are better placed, as the work required in each of these is less than one-third of that in India — 37.2 days in China and 34.6 days in Brazil.

iPods are more expensive in Brazil than in India based on just the price, according to an iPod index compiled by Australia’s Commonwealth Bank to compare foreign exchange rates and global purchasing power.

Brazilians pay $327.71 for an iPod while India comes second with a price of $222.27, as compared to $144.2 in Canada and $149 dollars in the US — the two places where it is cheapest to buy an iPod.

While the index itself indicates that the iPod — just an entertainment device for people in Canada, the US or the UK — is an expensive indulgence in developing nations, the comparison of its price with the per capita income makes its even worse for places like India.

According to World Bank data, India had a per capita income of $720 in 2005, the lowest among the 26 countries where iPods are sold. Based on a five-day week, Indians would have to work more than five months, or 112.67 days, to foot the bill for an iPod.